ANTH 1220: Chapter 11 - Political Systems (Bands to States)
4 Types of Political Organization
- Band - Tribe - Chiefdom - State
3 Internal Processes of Change within States
- Factionalism - Revolution - Movements for democratic change
Warfare in Stateless Societies
- It is rare in foraging bands - Tribal warfare is more about PRESTIGE than the land or resources - Ecological adaptation - Segmentary opposition
How Conflicts are resolved in Stateless Societies
- Public Opinion: through gossip, satirical songs - Mediation: often by a spiritual specialist - Moots: informal courts according to age grade - Removal: can be physical, voluntary, imposed, or isolation leading to social death - Self-Help: taking the law into your own hands (feuds)
Similarities between Bands and Tribes
- They are stateless societies - There are no specialized government institutions - Social institutions, like kinship groups and age grades, have political functions - Bands and tribes DIFFER in scale and degree of political organization
Segmentary Opposition
- certain parties in conflict with each other due to groups within parties - a hierarchy of parties and groups - see Figure 11.1 in the textbook
- Sociopolitical associations - People of similar age having special social functions - An advantage is having a support system so as to not bother adults for certain problems
Age Grades
- Sociopolitical groups with shared interests and skills - For example, pottery - Not kin-based
Associations
- Small, loosely organized groups - Held together by informal leadership - Commonly attributed to "foraging societies" - Very egalitarian - Communal ownership - Many are nomadic - Flexible membership
Bands
The two stateless societies are
Bands and Tribes
Characteristics including: - Concentration of power & an authority leader - Regional administrators - Bureaucracy - people who work in the administration - System of taxation - Monopoly of use of force: for example, the army and police
Characteristics of States (Part 1)
Characteristics including: - Territorial sovereignty - Very large populations (urban centres) - Occupational specialization - Ideologies of legitimate privilege and status of elites (theocracies)
Characteristics of States (Part 2)
- Formal government by kinship - Known as a "transition" from TRIBAL to STATE - Chiefs are from higher ranking kin groups and usually have a redistribution role - Stratification (hierarchy) varies cross-culturally
Chiefdoms
Political Anthropology is a subfield of:
Cultural Anthropology
- Groups splitting into factions - Opposing political issues - Threat of violence and political unity - An internal process of change in States
Factionalism
The internal and external social control State Societies have for conflicts and warfare
In terms of internal: - mechanisms of force - codified standardized laws - and court systems In terms of external: - monopoly on right to conduct warfare
- Occurring presently in places like Egypt, Syria, Ukraine - These are revolutions based on factionalism - Can take a toll on society - Smaller movements are less violent: for example, occupy movements - An internal process of change in States
Movements for Democratic Change
- Attempt to overthrow the existing government - An internal process of change in States
Revolution
- Supreme power and authority - For example, "If there is a sovereign nation doing things we do not approve of, going there to stop an operation won't speak to the nation's sovereignty."
Sovereignty
- Highly organized, centralized political systems with a hierarchical structure of authority - In terms of hierarchy, can include federal, provincial, city governments, etc.
States
Government based on religion
Theocracy
- Societies with some degree of formalization of structure and leadership - Village and intervillage councils - Associations and age grades - Some are nomadic but most are sedentary - Variable subsistence patterns, usually horticulture - Uni-lineal kinship patterns
Tribes
Chiefdoms are considered as:
the "in between" stage of political organization, from tribe to state
